The Magistrate's Table

The morning after their arrival in Calcutta, the party attended Sunday services at St. John’s Church, where the rigid social hierarchy of the city made itself immediately apparent. The congregation was seated strictly by rank, with Magistrate Charles Ashworth and the senior families occupying the front pews, while the party sat in the middle alongside their hosts, Hugh and Meg Cavendish. Outside, Havildar Pratap Singh waited with the carriages and other non-Christian servants, where he was…